Only Other One: By Any Other Name 4
by AZGirl
Summary: Steve found out a long time ago that some names are special. Spoilers for 3.20 Olelo Pa'a. This is a stand-alone story even though it's part of a series revolving around nicknames.


**Disclaimers**: Hawaii Five-0 is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while. No beta, so apologies for any unrealized errors.

**Spoilers**: 3.20 Olelo Pa'a

**A/N**: When Freddie called McGarrett _Steven_, believe it or not, I was irritated because Danny is the only one who regularly uses that version of his name. It took a couple of days, but it finally sunk in that I should write a story about that. My first H50 story in quite a while…

**ooooooo**

He swallowed hard in order to speak past the lump in his throat.

"Now, wherever you go," Steve briefly paused, trying to keep a tidal wave of emotions from overtaking him, "he'll always be with you."

Standing once again on slightly shaky legs, he lifted his head to see his team, his ohana off to the side of the main crowd of mourners. The relief and gratitude he feels from seeing them is instantaneous even though overall he is still emotionally compromised due to his recent experiences. He was not alone; his team was with him.

ooooooo

He stood slightly behind and to the side of Freddie's family as they watched the casket being lowered into the ground, but once it disappeared from his direct line of sight, Steve just couldn't be there anymore. Not really paying attention to the direction he was going, McGarrett managed to head deeper onto the cemetery's grounds. It wasn't until he nearly tripped over an old, low-lying tombstone, that he realized that he'd left his friend's gravesite so far behind.

Steve put his hands on his hips and let his head drop to his chest. He took several deep, calming breaths before raising his head again. When he did, he spied a weather-beaten stone bench under an ancient-looking tree about fifty yards away. Without any conscious thought, he headed towards the bench and sat down, wishing the quiet, peaceful atmosphere would help settle his conflicted heart and soul.

He thought finally bringing Freddie's body home would help alleviate the guilt he'd felt for leaving a man he thought of as a brother behind to die in a country that was not his own. And it _had_ helped; it did. He'd also finally kept his promise and told his friend's daughter that her daddy loved her. It's just…just—

"This seat taken?"

Steve flinched at the unexpected voice, and thought: _Speaking of brothers_...

He wasn't surprised that Danny had managed to walk right up to him without his notice. Heck, due to his recent inattention, he wouldn't even be all that surprised if a herd of elephants had gone past him in the last few minutes.

Danny unbuttoned his suit coat and sat down next to him on the bench. For a time, they both looked out upon the beautifully maintained grounds. Steve knew his friend was there to support him regardless of whether or not he said anything about his churning emotions, and he was thankful for having such a great friend in his life.

The thing was that he _did_ want to talk; the problem was where to start and how much he'd be able to get out. So he did the only logical thing and stalled for more time by taking off his gloves and cover and laying them down beside him.

When he looked up, he took a deep breath, and turned his head slightly towards Danny.

"You're the only other one," he quietly said, looking away and knowing that it wouldn't make any sense to his partner.

Danny looked at him with confusion on his face. "'Only other one' what?"

"The only other person besides my parents who regularly calls me _Steven_."

"Okay," his friend responded, drawing the second syllable out, obviously uncertain where the conversation was headed.

Steve blew out a frustrated sigh and rubbed a hand over his face, annoyed with himself that he wasn't able to say what he wanted. He felt a hand on his forearm and looked back at Danny, who smirked at him.

"I know you're not the greatest at mammal-to-mammal communication," he lightly thumped the back of his hand against Steve's chest while continuing to speak in a sarcastic tone, "but by now I would think even _you_ would know a conversation works best if you start at the beginning instead of diving straight into the middle."

He couldn't help the slight smile at his partner's mini rant. "I am aware. Thank you, Danno."

Danny's grin got wider. "No problem, my friend. Always willing to help the conversationally- challenged."

Steve elbowed his partner's side hard enough for him to have to flounder for a moment to keep his seat on the small bench. Once he'd settled down again, Steve gave Danny a look of gratitude, which his teammate acknowledged with a smile and a slight nod.

"Did you know that the first time you called me Steven, I knew then that we'd be close friends?"

Danny's expression was one of genuine curiosity, but he remained silent, using a simple gesture to encourage him to continue.

"Freddie, he—uh, he…" Steve let his gaze drift away from Danny's. "Freddie was the best friend I'd had in a long time and, when he wanted to get something important across to me, wanted to get me to focus, he would call me Steven. So, when you started doing that too, instead of being annoyed, I just knew you and I would go beyond simple work friends to close friends, like brothers."

The blond nodded, taking in the new information. After a few moments, he pointed at himself and said, "Do you want to know when I knew? I knew, well not 'knew' exactly, but I had an inkling the very first time you called me Danno."

"Really?" he replied, sounding surprised.

"Yeah," Danny reluctantly admitted, looking sheepish.

"But, back at the beginning, you always gave me hell for calling you Danno!" Steve reminded.

"Well, yeah." Danny said bumping shoulders with him. "I was completely frustrated by the fact that I wasn't more annoyed by it. I decided that you needed to share in my frustration, so every time you called me Danno, I gave you crap for it. Now though, I think if anyone else besides you or Grace ever called me Danno, I'd have to 'politely' discourage them from ever doing it again."

"Politely, huh." Steve's smile returned at the idea of how polite Danny would actually be in that kind of situation.

"More or less," his friend replied with a chuckle.

They fell silent, each of them content to look out at the stone garden and contemplate for a while their friendship and brotherhood.

By some unspoken signal, they stood in unison before Steve leaned down to grab his gloves, putting them back on before doing the same with his cover. He asked, "So when did you know for sure?"

"That we'd be best buds?" Danny replied.

"Yep." Without consulting each other, they both started walking towards the parking lot.

"I was pretty certain when you gave me that gift certificate for that weekend with Grace at the dolphin hotel, but you," he slapped the back of McGarrett's shoulder once, "getting the former Governor to pressure Rachel into dropping that idiotic attempt for full custody cemented the idea in my head."

"So, what you're saying is that you knew before me?" Disbelief was evident in the taller man's voice.

"What can I say, Steven? I am," with both hands he gestured towards himself as he spoke, "a highly-trained detective. I detect things for a living. You, on the other hand, are a soldier—"

"Sailor," Steve interrupted. "Sailor, Danno. How many times…"

ooooooo

Walking through the cemetery, the two best friends were so caught up in their usual bickering, that neither of them saw the tall, blond sailor in green fatigues grinning and chuckling at their antics.

"Mission accomplished," he quietly said with a smile, and walked away in the opposite direction only to disappear in the next instant.

ooooooo

_The end._

**ooooooo**

**A/N:** At first I wasn't too sure about the ending, because I used the phrase 'mission accomplished' at the end of another one of my stories. I thought about changing it, but upon further reflection, I decided to leave it as is, since I could think of multiple ways to define what the 'mission' was. So, how did you define it?

_**Thanks for reading!**_


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